PETRONAS WINS AGAIN All the hard work has paid off handsomely

By Derryn Wong

IT LOOKS LIKE all the hard work and preparation for the Petronas Syntium racing team (PST) has paid off big with it’s third win in the Japanese Super Taikyu Endurance Series at Fuji International Speedway. This makes a hat-trick for the team as well as its second 1-2 finish, all in just the opening three rounds of the season.

But perhaps the bigger story behind PST’s triumph is that victory was claimed by Malaysia’s own Farique Hairuman, paired with Japanese driver Masataka Yanagida, who both led the four-hour race from pole to flag in a convincing display of superiority.

The win is 25-year-old Hairuman’s first , which makes him the first Malaysian to have an endurance race win in Japan under his belt.

“It’s an incredible feeling, especially winning here at Fuji! All throughout the weekend the car felt really good and I am happy with my overall race pace. The race itself was also really good as we had a good and close fight with our teammates in the sister BMW Z4M Coupe No. 28 who were on a similar pace to us, but we managed to hang on for the win!” a jubilant Hairuman said.

Second place was taken by second car no. 28 with pilots Nobuteru Taniguchi and Hiroki Yoshida driving their Z4M Coupe for a close fought podium spot.

The Super Taikyu Series is a seven-round sportscar racing series which runs four hour races in tracks all across Japan like the abovementioned Fuji as well as Suzuka. Four classes, ST1 to ST4 are run according to technical restrictions. The drivers had to fend off fierce competition from Faust Racing’s Porsche 911GT3 and Endless’ Nissan 350Z.

David Wong, team principal for PST said, “Three wins out of three races is a fantastic achievement for the team! The team has worked incredibly hard and this is the reward for all the effort that they have put in.”

The 2008 Super Taikyu Endurance Series will take a four-week breather before heading north to Hokkaido for round four with the Tokachi 24Hours Endurance at the Tokachi Speedway from 19 to 21 July. For full details on the series, visit the official series website at http://www.so-net.ne.jp/s-taikyu/